"There were a lot of adults, but why wasn't anyone watching the kids?" asked Christian, who was traveling with his family. "You'd think Carnival would have lifeguards around the pool."

No, and most resort pools don't either. I'll bet there is a big sign there saying that kids under a certain age can't be in the pool without adult supervision as well. So the big question is where the fark were the parents. Getting drunk?

Fart_Machine:"There were a lot of adults, but why wasn't anyone watching the kids?" asked Christian, who was traveling with his family. "You'd think Carnival would have lifeguards around the pool."

No, and most resort pools don't either. I'll bet there is a big sign there saying that kids under a certain age can't be in the pool without adult supervision as well. So the big question is where the fark were the parents. Getting drunk?

optikeye:You could have done CPR or grabbed one of the automatic defib units instead of praying to your sky wizard...the scary scene is is they put their hands to the sky and prayed instead of doing SOMETHING.

For most people, doing nothing is more effective than doing whatever misguided thought might pop into their heads.

Quantum Apostrophe:optikeye: "It was a lot of chaos, people were going crazy, people were praying, they had their hands to the sky. It was a scary scene, seeing a little boy just lifeless,"

You could have done CPR or grabbed one of the automatic defib units instead of praying to your sky wizard...the scary scene is is they put their hands to the sky and prayed instead of doing SOMETHING.

You're not kidding. I'm filled with apprehension for the future of the human race when we still behave like this. People, FFS, get a clue.

Other than getting in the way, I'm not sure how an entire crowd of untrained people could have 'helped'. Also, the auto defib is only effective if the heart is in v-fib or v-tach. It sounded like a few people attempted to save the kid's life and unfortunately, they failed to do so. All the rest of the people in the crowd were just experiencing the anguish of watching a child die and being powerless to stop it. Maybe a little slack is in order?

tetsoushima:. It sounded like a few people attempted to save the kid's life and unfortunately, they failed to do so. All the rest of the people in the crowd were just experiencing the anguish of watching a child die and being powerless to stop it. Maybe a little slack is in order?

If you read the article carefully, you'll see the kid was spoted in distress. By a DJ no less.

Christian said a DJ discovered the boy struggling in the water and immediately stopped the music. A guest then jumped into the pool with his clothes on and pulled the boy out, followed by a crew member who unsuccessfully tried to revive the boy, Christian said. The boy was pronounced dead shortly after.

The kid was alive at that point. Struggling in the water. The DJ Spotted the boy. The rest of the crowd expected 'someone else to help" and none happened...it was guest that pulled kid out. The DJ booth at these pools are not really that close..the DJ could have said something--I don't know.

The KID was alive when the DJ stopped the music and alerted the crowd. Then the crowd started praying. Except the one guest that jumped to get the body. The article doesn't mention automatic defib units which should be available in pool areas and have all the staff trained on their availability and locations.

A short drowning situation where a DJ saw a kid in distress, and automatic defibs should have been survivable for a young child.

Enigmamf:optikeye: You could have done CPR or grabbed one of the automatic defib units instead of praying to your sky wizard...the scary scene is is they put their hands to the sky and prayed instead of doing SOMETHING.

For most people, doing nothing is more effective than doing whatever misguided thought might pop into their heads.

At least people praying aren't screaming or getting in my way. Seriously, does yelling AAAAAAAAA actually help? Shut the fark up and let me think.

Also, you can't blame this one on the cruise line. "No Lifeguard" means "Out of arm's reach is in death's grip".

Enigmamf:optikeye: You could have done CPR or grabbed one of the automatic defib units instead of praying to your sky wizard...the scary scene is is they put their hands to the sky and prayed instead of doing SOMETHING.

For most people, doing nothing is more effective than doing whatever misguided thought might pop into their heads.

Ok people, that's enough concern trolling... Have you never heard of too many cooks in the kitchen? Once the first 2 or 3 people begin working on the kid, there is really not much for anyone else to do except pray... What do you want? A mob to form and slowly crush the rescue scene under their misguided attempt to occupy the same space at the same time for the same reason?

optikeye:"It was a lot of chaos, people were going crazy, people were praying, they had their hands to the sky. It was a scary scene, seeing a little boy just lifeless,"

You could have done CPR or grabbed one of the automatic defib units instead of praying to your sky wizard...the scary scene is is they put their hands to the sky and prayed instead of doing SOMETHING.

Yeah everyone on deck should dogpile on the kid at once. And everyone should have grabbd a defibrillator from the huge stack in the corner and clamored to be the one to use it. Most likely others were already helping out and rendering aid while the onlookers were panicking and praying. What should they have done, stand there pointing and laughing? Not EVERY SINGLE person there can or should be involved in the attempted rescue. But go ahead and pass judgement and make assumptions. You know what they say, when you ASSUME you make an ASS out of YOURSELF.

optikeye:tetsoushima: . It sounded like a few people attempted to save the kid's life and unfortunately, they failed to do so. All the rest of the people in the crowd were just experiencing the anguish of watching a child die and being powerless to stop it. Maybe a little slack is in order?

If you read the article carefully, you'll see the kid was spoted in distress. By a DJ no less.

Christian said a DJ discovered the boy struggling in the water and immediately stopped the music. A guest then jumped into the pool with his clothes on and pulled the boy out, followed by a crew member who unsuccessfully tried to revive the boy, Christian said. The boy was pronounced dead shortly after.

The kid was alive at that point. Struggling in the water. The DJ Spotted the boy. The rest of the crowd expected 'someone else to help" and none happened...it was guest that pulled kid out. The DJ booth at these pools are not really that close..the DJ could have said something--I don't know.

The KID was alive when the DJ stopped the music and alerted the crowd. Then the crowd started praying. Except the one guest that jumped to get the body. The article doesn't mention automatic defib units which should be available in pool areas and have all the staff trained on their availability and locations.

A short drowning situation where a DJ saw a kid in distress, and automatic defibs should have been survivable for a young child.

You must be trolling. You really think that upon being alerted to a drowning in progress, an entire group of people stopped what they where doing and started praying, while 1 person did all the work? This is how this works out in your mind?

You don't have to be all that smart to run a cruise line. You just have to be smarter than your guests.

In this case, I hope that means numerous disclaimers and warnings: "See that cool little blue puddle of water down there on that deck? WE DON'T STAFF IT WITH A LIFEGUARD. WE DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK WE SHOULD DO, WE DON'T STAFF IT WITH A LIFEGUARD. You're on your own."

It sounds like diffusion of responsibility and poor training by staff.

On every boat I've ever captained (nothing as big as a cruise ship, but 100'+ with many passengers) all of the crew is required to qualify in STCW, which is basically first aid, CPR etc.

You don't just yell, "Somebody do something!" because nobody will. I was trained to point at individual crew members (or passengers if necessary) and say, "You, get to the radio and call the Coast Guard for a possible medivac." "You, keep these people back and calm." "You, help with chest compressions!" etc.

They probably don't train poolside DJs in that manner. Then again, I would never set foot on a cruise ship.

Bucky Katt:I have never wanted to go on a cruise and I don't understand why anyone would want to.

Because it's actually a nice way to travel.

We sailed from NYC to Southampton on the QE2 and it was awesome. 5 days of great food, entertainment, and the neat experience of sailing across an ocean, like people did 100 years ago.

I imagine it'd be a great way to go around tropical islands, too - as long as you get to explore on your own rather than being stuck with a mob of other tourists on a bus. I'm more skeptical of Carnival cruises than proper ocean liner journeys, but I'm sure there are some very worthwhile ones.

optikeye:"It was a lot of chaos, people were going crazy, people were praying, they had their hands to the sky. It was a scary scene, seeing a little boy just lifeless,"

You could have done CPR or grabbed one of the automatic defib units instead of praying to your sky wizard...the scary scene is is they put their hands to the sky and prayed instead of doing SOMETHING.

I saw this video once where some kid was missing on a beach. The mother (I assume) was pacing back and forth in a really marvelous show of wailing and waving her arms around and screaming shiat like oh help god help why won't anyone help. Devoid of context it could have been a ridiculous parody of a distraught mother. In the background you could clearly see most of the men around (it was pretty crowded) organizing a search. They kept trying to get a description of the kid but the idiot woman just wouldn't calm down. Long story short, the kid was found, and the woman fell all over herself thanking Jesus instead of the guys kept their heads. I wanted to punch her in the face for her complete and utter uselessness.

1) My sister (age maybe 4) had a drowning accident at a busy public pool, with lifeguards. She was under about 5-7 minutes before we noticed, somebody pulled her out and did mouth-to-mouth. She was in the hospital for about a week, and came out mostly okay. I would think the primary blame would be my parents. Mom was probably sunbathing and my asshole of a dad was probably chasing bikinis.

2) My own daughter went under in a jacuzzi while I was sitting right next to her. Here is the scary thing about water, if you have never actually witnessed a drowning. They can happen without a sound or a splash. One minute she was sitting there, the next she was gone. You wouldn't notice it if you didn't have your eyes on them.

If you have kids, DO NOT leave them unattended in water, not even for a minute.

/I don't really believe it went down on that cruise ship the way they said in tfa.//There is no way that kid drowned if he was still alive and kicking on the surface when he was noticed. If he went under he wouldn't have been under for more than 10 or 20 seconds in that case.///Either he had already been under for more than several minutes, or somebody killed him while trying to clear his lungs.

DemonEater:Bucky Katt: I have never wanted to go on a cruise and I don't understand why anyone would want to.

Because it's actually a nice way to travel.

We sailed from NYC to Southampton on the QE2 and it was awesome. 5 days of great food, entertainment, and the neat experience of sailing across an ocean, like people did 100 years ago.

I imagine it'd be a great way to go around tropical islands, too - as long as you get to explore on your own rather than being stuck with a mob of other tourists on a bus. I'm more skeptical of Carnival cruises than proper ocean liner journeys, but I'm sure there are some very worthwhile ones.

I did that in 1981 on the QE2 at a student rate. It was a great way to make the return trip from England.